Cagewriter

Frankie Edgar thinks he should get the next lightweight title shot

On Saturday, Frankie Edgar lost his UFC lightweight title to Benson Henderson, and he wants it back. He doesn't want to drop down to featherweight to face Jose Aldo. He wants to stay exactly where he is, and face Henderson again.

"I'm saying it, and I'm saying it loud: I want my rematch," he said. "I'm not going to have these antics or play these games. I'm telling you what I want. This is what I want. I think it's fair. I think the fans want to see it. It was fight of the night. Listen, even if these guys want to see me get beat up, I do get beat up in a lot of my fights, even in the fights I win, so it's win-win for everybody."

Edgar makes a good point. He had to go through two immediate rematches during his championship reign, so it would only be fair for the UFC to extend the same courtesy to him. However, he has been in the UFC for five years. That's long enough to know fairness is not a quality that is taken into account when Zuffa is deciding title shots.

Was it fair Brock Lesnar got a chance at Randy Couture's title after three professional fights? Was it fair Lyoto Machida had a chance to fight Jon Jones in December even though Rashad Evans had earned the No. 1 contender shot, and the UFC would have had to wait a scant six weeks for him to be ready? Is it fair Ronda Rousey and her four fights at a higher weight class got a shot at Miesha Tate before Sarah Kaufman, who has beaten Tate?

Edgar is 100 percent right. He has a reasonable claim at an immediate rematch. But if he's hoping for fairness to come into play, he hasn't paid attention to recent history.